Wellness

The Implications of Scar Tissue & Blocked Meridians

(And the Power of Integrative Neural Therapy)

It’s estimated that 20 million Americans undergo surgery every year for a wide range of conditions, and that’s just for procedures that require general anesthesia. (1) This doesn’t include something like c-section birth, a procedure that is also classified as major surgery. Taking this into account along with all the other surgeries that use local anesthesia, the number of annual surgeries in the U.S. could easily be as high as 50 or 60 million.

Our casual attitude toward surgery comes from seeing it as the solution to a healthcare problem. Once a surgery is performed, the problem will either go away or get better. Many times that is the outcome, and it’s a wonderful thing, especially when a life is saved. Even so, we never contemplate that the act of surgery itself, even when the outcome is good, may leave us with a new set of problems. I’m not talking about medical malpractice; I’m talking about the undiagnosed medical conditions linked to post-operative surgical scarring.

The Path of Life

The human body is a self-contained organism with everything it needs to thrive existing within it. Any intrusion into this sealed environment, such as the incision for an operation, upsets the body’s natural processes and leaves residual trauma from the “injury” behind. The result is a scar that not only holds the negative energetic memory of the event, but also acts as a barrier that prevents the natural flow of the body’s energy from going beyond or through that point. The effect is an accumulation or stagnation of energy that often results in new physical problems cropping up in the same general area of the body.

This happens because scar tissue disrupts the pathways along which our life energy or Qi flows, called meridians. These invisible pathways run throughout the body, penetrating every cell, organ, and system, vitalizing them with the life essence they need to function optimally. The source of this energy is the earth. It enters the body through the bottom of the left foot, travels along each meridian and returns to the earth by exiting through the bottom of the right foot. The 12 major meridians pass through many areas of the body but are named for the major organ or system along their route. They include the lung, large intestine, spleen, stomach, heart, small intestine, bladder, kidney, pericardium (circulation/sex), triple warmer (head, also assists pericardium meridian), liver, and gallbladder meridians. Because alternative therapies such as acupuncture are achieving much success with patients, more traditional healthcare institutions are only now beginning to investigate the importance of energy meridians. (2)

Stimulation & Release

If we think of energy meridians as highways that run through the body, a scar is a roadblock along that route. Keep in mind that scarring from either surgeries or injuries can be internal, as well. These roadblocks create a condition known as reverse polarity and can affect the body’s energy flow in one of two ways.

As we’ve seen, the barrier a scar creates results in turbulence as moving energy hits the wall and begins to backup in that location. This over-saturation creates new health problems in the same area or in the vicinity where the energy is radiating. I see many women who’ve had breast surgery, either for augmentation, reduction, or a mastectomy who later experience an inexplicable erratic heartbeat or arrhythmia. With absolutely no history of heart problems, some of them have been taking medication to stabilize their heartbeat for years. Anyone with a working knowledge of the how the body meridians function would be able to recognize that the energetic turbulence generated by the scarring near the breast is radiating in the direction of the heart and interfering with its rhythm.

When a mystery illness appears in the vicinity of a scar, the associated energy meridian is always the first place I look. In such cases, I administer an incredible treatment called Integrative Neural Therapy (INT). Also known as German acupuncture, the procedure involves numbing the scar and surrounding area with Procaine. Once inside the body, Procaine gets converted to Para-Amino-Benzoic Acid (PABA), an antioxidant that some classify as part of the vitamin B complex. This generates the production of folic acid which begins to release some of the rigidity and stored energy of the scar tissue through the miasmatic process. Moments later, homeopathic healing agents imported from Germany are injected into the area to reopen the energetic pathway and expedite the release of any lingering stagnation.

I’ve witnessed many amazing medical interventions and miraculous healings in my career, and I can tell you that the results from INT are some of the most dramatic I’ve ever seen. Its ability to resolve many unexplained long-term illnesses is astounding. It’s highly effective in completely eliminating chronic pain, even in cases where the pain has existed for years. While more studies need to be done, it’s felt that the high success rate of INT is due to the way it stimulates the autonomic ganglia, peripheral nerves, related glands, and trigger points associated with the affected meridian to normalize the illness-related function of the nervous system.

In the case of the women with heart arrhythmia, it only took a few treatments to stabilize their heartbeats and get them completely off their medications. It’s amazing and yet understandable that once a surgery corrects one problem, we never suspect the scar it created might be connected to a secondary health problem that appeared shortly thereafter. Nowhere is this more evident than in the case of c-section births.

Sexual Healing

According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists by 2011, c-section births accounted for 33% of all children born in the U.S. That’s a 13% jump from 1996 and yet, the increase has had no impact on improved outcomes. (3) During the same time, Planned Parenthood reported that 33% or 1 in 3 women experience anorgasmia or trouble reaching orgasm. (4) In addition, The Center for Sexual Health Promotion at Indiana University recently released the results from the biggest sexual survey of its kind in 20 years. Among the findings was that 30% of women between 18 and 59 experience some degree of dyspareunia or painful intercourse. (5) Is it just coincidence that as c-section births increased, the number of women who suffered from dyspareunia and anorgasmia rose by virtually the exact same rate, one third? I don’t think so.

I can’t tell you how many women come into my office with c-section scars suffering from the loss of sexual pleasure in their lives either because of dyspareunia or anorgasmia. After just a few treatments of INT, they feel reborn and their sexual dysfunction never returns. Interestingly, in Japan, where c-sections aren’t nearly as common, a vertical incision is made as opposed to the horizontal procedure performed in the U.S. This is done to disrupt as few energetic meridians as possible.

For women who have trouble conceiving or have been told their fertility is impaired, INT is simply miraculous. It’s important to know that scarring, especially internally, can occur from minor injuries in childhood or adolescence such as sports. In adulthood, most women struggling with fertility issues will never make the connection between their current circumstance and a long forgotten childhood injury.

I see many men suffering from sexual or reproductive dysfunction, as well. Most of the time, they’re not able to enjoy a healthy sex life because of erectile dysfunction (ED). They usually come to me in deep depression, struggling desperately with their sense of self and masculinity. They’re completely unaware that their ED, which seemed to appear out of nowhere, was the result of the scarring from their appendectomy, faulty circumcision, hernia, or gallbladder surgery. It’s an absolute joy to see these men return to their vital sexual selves after INT.

Crisscross Connection

The second way a scar affects meridian energy is by rerouting it in a completely different direction. Let’s go back to our analogy of the meridians as city streets and the energy as the traffic that travels along them. The cars always move in specific patterns along predetermined routes during the morning commute, afternoon interval, and evening rush hour. It’s like choreography, and you could set your clock by the movements.

Now imagine a roadblock was set up right in the middle of the most traveled highway during rush hour. Thousands of cars would suddenly pour off the highway and attempt to take alternate routes where they normally don’t drive and aren’t supposed to be. The result is chaos in a distant location far off the main highway. The same thing can happen when the body takes on scar tissue. Instead of collecting in the area of the roadblock, the energy can ricochet off it and get directed down a completely different meridian where it’s not supposed to be, causing problems in a location that’s nowhere near the scar.

In Chinese medicine and acupuncture, there is a contralateral philosophy to healing. With regard to meridians, this approach states that whatever affects the top affects the bottom, whatever affects the front affects the back, whatever affects the right affects the left, and so on. If you imagine the arm superimposed over the leg, then the shoulder corresponds to the hip, the elbow corresponds to the knee, the wrist corresponds to the ankle, and the hand corresponds to the foot. So from the contralateral perspective, if a patient is experiencing a problem with the right shoulder, the left hip is treated.

I read an amazing article recently where a patient was experiencing debilitating and inexplicable pain in his right wrist. After all tests failed to provide a logical answer, the physician noticed a scar on the man’s left ankle. The patient said he’d recently had surgery following a skiing accident that required several pins to be installed in his ankle. Luckily, a colleague of the doctor understood the principles of contralateral philosophy. The man’s scar was stimulated in a way similar to INT and his wrist pain vanished within days never to return.

Rapid Relief

Today, 35% of German physicians use some form of INT to eliminate everything from allergies, bowel problems, and infertility to tinnitus and sexual dysfunction (among others) and yet, it’s virtually unknown in the U.S. In some cases, a single treatment is all that is needed, and relief comes immediately. Typically, three to six treatments is the average protocol as relief gradually increases until the symptoms just fade away altogether. Older scars may take a bit more time than newer ones, but the result is the same.

If you’ve been suffering from an unexplained physical condition, I would advise you to investigate your previous surgical history. Remember that sometimes the scar doesn’t have to be anywhere near where you’re experiencing the physical problem. Also keep in mind that scars can be internal, as well. I can’t stress enough the incredible healing power of this simple intervention. I live for the moments when I can see a patient completely relieved in a matter of days from chronic pain or a limiting condition he or she has dealt with for years. INT is clearly one of the most miraculous and consistent healing interventions I have ever had the privilege of providing. Just remember that when you’re on a healing journey, the illness itself can be the symptom pointing to a scar that’s guilty by association.

For more inspirational insights from Dr. Sadeghi, please visit Behive of Healing to sign up for his monthly newsletter, or find annual health and well-being journal, MegaZEN. For daily messages of encouragement and humor, follow him on Twitter.

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